Hot-air furnace



J.- LEEDS.

Hot-Air Furnace.

Patented Nov. 27, 1860.

77027085 5&5

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NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH LEEDS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

HOT-AIR FURNACE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 30,738, dated November 27, 1860.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosnrH Lnnns, of the city of Philadelphia, in theState of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in theMode of Moistening the Air on its passage through the air-warmingchamber of furnaces for heating buildings; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description of theconstruction and operation of the same, ref erence being had to theannexed drawings, making a part of this specication, in which- Figure l,is a vertical longitudinal section of an air-warming chamber' having theimprovement applied thereto; and Fig. 2, a plan View of the same, likeletters, when on the different figures, indicating the same objects.

Observing the provisions of the Great Producer and Ruler of theUniverse, for.

moistening the atmosphere-in the evaporation of water, gently, from thesurface of the earth, and its periodical returns through the air, in theform of rain--it is the object of my invention, to imitate thesebeautiful and efficient operations, as nearly, as may be, oncomparatively so minute a scale, simply for the purpose of furthermoistening or keeping up the healthful hygrometric condition of the airwarmed in the warm-air chamber of air heating furnaces in buildings.

It consists in covering the lowest part, or floor, of the warm-airchamber of a furnace, with a surface of water, and supporting the heaterdirectly over the same, both being arranged in such relation to thefresh-air inlets, as to cause the entering air to carry up and absorbthe moisture gently evaporated from the water below by the said heater;and in combination therewith providing for a periodical discharge ofspray, or minute ets of water, through the said rising, warm air, asoccasion may require, subst-antially in the manner hereinafterdescribed, whereby vI am enabled to keep the so warmed air of dwellings,&c., in a more healthful hygrometric condition than heretofore, and alsoto increase the degree of moisture more quickly in the same, as occasionmay require.

In the drawings, A, A, are the walls of the warm-air chamber; B is thefloor, or bottom, of the same; O, a shallow, open vessel for holdingwater, occupying the whole area of the bottom (13); D, the ash-box wallsand support for the front end of the heaterthe general relative positionof the latter being indicated by the dotted outlines g/-y; E, the wallsof the dust-chamber, (usually arranged beneath the main back-fine of theheater), and also serving as a support for the rear end of the saidheater; F, the escape-flue; G, G, the fresh-air entrances to theexterior of the heater; H, the fresh-air entrance to the interiorradiating fineswhen such flues are found in the heater, as indicated inthe drawings; I, one of the usual escapes, or leaders, for the warmedand moistened air; K, K, are perforated distributing and deflectingplates above the air entrances (G, G,); L, the jet or spray pipe; M, theman-hole door of the war1nair chamber; N, the fire chamber door; and O,the door of the ash-box.

The general form, or construction and combined arrangement, of thewarm-air chamber and its contained heater, is substantially the same asthose in common use; and therefore a detailed description of these isnot necessary, except in so far as the adaptation of my invention, tothem, is eon cerned.

The water vessel (O) may be made of cast-iron, terra-cotta, or any othermaterial that may be adapted to the purposes of holding water andbearing the weight of the heater, etc. It is made with a fiat bottom andraised sides and ends, so as to be capable of resting firmly on thebottom of the warm-air chamber, and of holding water of a uniform depthof, Say 2 or 3 inches, more or less, and of sufficient length andbreadth to cover the whole area of the bottom, or floor, of the saidwarm-air chamber. It should also be provided with any suilicient outletto prevent overiiowing, and a clearing pipe, fitted with a stop cock, inany suitable manner, to drain off the whole of the water when required.

The walls D) which form the ash-box, and those which form the dustchamber, constitute, also, two piers for supporting the heater above thewater, and are made of bricks which will allow sufficient water ormoisture to soak through, from their outer sides, to dampen the ashesand prevent dust from rising therefrom, and should also be built ofsuiiicient height to support the heater at a few inches above thesurface of the water in the vessel (C) The fresh-air which is introducedat Gr, G, or opposite the hot sides of the fire chamber, is preventedfrom rising upward too directly, by being partially deflected so as tobe more generally diffused around the heater, by means of the plates K,K; and,

in order to insure the passage of fresh-air through any interior,radiating iiues which may be in the heater, the fresh-air pipe should bemade to reach beneath the mouths of the same, in any suitable manner.

The jet or spray pipe (L) is fixed around to the inside of the walls(A-A), of the warm-air chamber, in asY nearly a horizontal position asmay be consistent with draining it, and at about one third, more orless, the height ofthe heater. It is perforated with very minute holes 11, or slots 2 2, in such a manner as will allow numerous jets or spraysof water to issue therefrom-the said pipe (L) being connected with aheadpressure o water, suiiicient for the purpose, in any suitablemanner; and also fitted with stop, and discharge cocks, arranged in anysuitable manner, to enable any one, conveniently to discharge spray orjets of water therefrom into the rising warm air of the chamber, or tostop them and drain the pipe (L), as occasion may require.

In the operation of these devices, the heaterv necessarily produces amoderate or gentle evaporation from the surface of the water inthe'vessel (C), and the fresh air, coming through the inlets (G, Gr, andH,), becoming warmed, takes up the vapor and passes to the conducting orleading pipes (I), and thence to the different apartments of thebuilding, in the usual mannen-and should the hygrometric condition ofthe air in the rooms, at any subsequent time, require a largerproportion of moisture, it can be furnished in a few minutes by turningon the head-pressure of water connected with the pipe (L), and soproducing a continuous discharge of water, in the form of jets or spray,through the rising air of the warming chamber; thus, together, enablingany one to preserve a regular, healthful, and natural hygrometric stateof the air in the rooms of the building, or, lat pleasure, to quicklylincrease the degree of moisture therein in a more perfect or naturalmanner than heretofore; besides, the low position, and extensive surfaceof water, described, insure the arrest of all particles of dust whichmay be in the entering air-a result, it is believed, which has neverbefore been eected in air- Warming furnaces.

I am aware that evaporating boilers or pans, have been used upondifferent parts of the heater for the purpose of moistening the air; andthat jets of steam from pipes, leading from steam-boilers outside of thewarmair chamber, have been used for the same purpose; but neither ofthese modes of moistening the air has been found suflicient in practiceto produce that agreeable and healthful hygrometric condition yof theair, warmed by a furnace, which is natural to our atmosphere, aside fromthe difculty of keeping the said pans, or boilers, at all times suppliedwith water.

I do notl claim, broadly, the moistening the air in the warm-air chamberof a heater for buildings; nor do I confine my invention, vin itsapplication, to any particular form of heater, or warm-air chamber; but,

' Having fully describedV my improvement, and pointed out its superiorutility, what I claim as new and desire-to secure by Letters Patent is-Providing a surface of water over the lowest part, or floor, of thewarm-air chamber, and below the heater thereof, substantially in themanner described, and for the purpose specified, and in combinationtherewith discharging spray, or minute jets of water, through the risingair in the warm-air chamber, substantially as described and for thepurpose specified.

JosEPH LEEDS.

